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Date Posted: Wed 2003-09-03 23:20:44
Author: Redeye
Subject: Right...
In reply to: arendt 's message, "I agree with you - I need a break from all this debating" on Tue 2003-09-02 14:18:33

...the only thing in the debate I'll reply to for now is my opinion about G�del's Theorem, Turing's Stopping Theorem, and so on - namely, that I don't have an opinion. In mathematics there's very little room for opinion; by the same token you could've asked me for my opinion about 1+1=2. You can ask for my opinion about unproven things, such as whether P=NP (I hesitantly tend to say no because I can think of something for which I can't find an algorithm in polynomial time - namely, counting votes in IRV and Beatpath Condorcet).

Anyway, I don't really have a bill flowchart now, but those are my current ideas about the structure of the legislative:

- There's a single House of Representatives, elected proportionally, which is the Legislative equivalent of the Supreme Court.
- There're 10-12 DLs subordinate to the HR - probably dealing with Defense, Education, Civil Rights, Foreign Policy, Administrative Affairs (I'm ambivalent about that though), Fiscal Policy, Economic/Industrial Regulations, Labor, Housing and Development, Infrastructure, and Technology. Each convenes in a different city.
- Each DL has 4 or 5 subordinate SLs (for example, the one on the environment might have energy, pollution, health, natural resources, and global environmental issues). Again, SLs convene in different cities so that no city has more than 3 SLs (and only really big ones like NY and LA have 3) - I have a preliminary proposal on my computer in which there're 50 SLs convening in 40 different cities, although most of those cities have been allocated randomly.

Every person may vote for the following offices:
- His state and local legislatures
- His state governor (assuming governors are elected directly and not by the state legislature)
- The HR
- The President
- 3 DLs
- 5 SLs, all of which must be subordinate to one of the 3 DLs the person voted for

Note: if X has initiative power in legislature Y, then it means that X can introduce legislation to Y, or to force a bill in Y out of the committee stage and onto the final votes on the floor.

Now, the president under this scheme is about as powerful as the President of France - he is head of state but not head of government, and has all the powers of the US president except appointing secretaries/ministers (and he can't dissolve the government and call for new elections).

Every DL selects one minister, so we get a cabinet composed of a president and 10-12 ministers.

Every SL has legislative power in its jurisdiction. It can do everything its superior legislatures can do in its domain, although it has freer hand to deal with minor things and issues that nobody cares about (this is where minimum debate times kick in - SLs have smaller minimums than DLs and the HR). Every Specialized Legislator has initiative power in the SL, and a majority in the SL has initiative power in the superior DL (including on issues that other SLs subordinate to the same DL deal with). SL legislation may not contradict DL or HR legislation.

DLs are constructed in a very similar fashion. Each DL may do everything its subordinate SLs can do. Every Departmental Legislator has initiative power in the DL, and a majority in the DL has initiative power both in its subordinate SLs and in the HR. DLs can veto SL legislation, but there is no line item veto, and the Supreme Court may rule the veto an unconstitutional infringement of the SLs' rights.

The single HR has all the legislative powers of the DLs, but it also has the heaviest debate time restrictions. Every Representative has initiative power in the HR, and one more Representative than a quarter of the HR (i.e. if there are 400 Representatives than one more than a quarter is 101) may introduce legislation to every DL or SL. The HR's main function is to connect the Legislative body to the other branches of government; the HR is the only body that can amend the constitution (a 3/4ths majority and a ratification in a subsequent referendum is required), help appoint judges and justices along with several other bodies such as the ABA, and remove a president or a minister with a 3/4ths majority. In addition, a 3/4ths majority in the HR can veto DL and SL legislation.

Ministers share among them the functions of a prime minister in parliamentary systems. Each minister has initiative power in his DL and its subordinate SLs, and can veto SL or DL legislation. Such a veto can be overridden if the DL overrides it with a 3/4ths majority or if the HR overrides it with a simple majority.

Note: petitions of 2% and 5% of the eligible voters have initiative power in any single DL and in the HR respectively.

Another note: a petition of 5% of the eligible voters is enough to start a referendum or to have a recall election against any official not elected by proportional representation.

A third note: the president has veto power only over the ministers' executive activity, and even this veto can be overridden if 3/4ths of the ministers vote against it in the cabinet.

A fourth and final note: there are no conference resolutions because bills never require the support of two or more equal legislatures.

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